Organize Meals
Although in our day, most people are capable of ordering out a meal or picking up dinner, it is still an expression of support and kindness to offer to bring a meal for the family during times of grief. Most often this happens immediately after the death for a few days or a week.
Some additional ideas are to offer to bring dinner every Friday and then sit and spend some time with the griever. This depends upon individual circumstances, but offering to eat and sit with someone is an incredible gift of generosity.
Below is the free website Meal Train that anyone to organize meals for a friend.
Grief Groceries. This is some great advice.
Grief is a funny thing. It's the time in our life when we most need help, and also the time when asking for help is so hard. Not because we are ashamed to ask for help, but mostly because our brain just sort of shuts down. When my dad died, I looked functional. But I wasn't OK. Not at all. And when the news got out, the ton of people flooding me with calls, texts, and DM's was overwhelming. I sat on a swing in our yard and stared into space. People called and asked what they could do to help. I had no idea.
I had no idea what to do. What I needed. I didn't even know what to ask for.
Then a friend sent me a text. "Will you be home at 8:30 tonight?" What's weird is this friend lives 12 hours away from me. "Yes," I replied. I got one letter: "K"
Ten minutes later, she texted: "Instacart will be there at 8:30. Open the door for them. It's Grief Groceries."
When Instacart showed up, they put two large bags of groceries on my porch: frozen pizzas, ice cream, Oreo cookies, canned soup, a gallon of milk, Stouffer's lasagna. Things like that. Things I could just heat up if I needed a meal, or needed a snack, or needed some comfort.
Notice she didn't ask if I needed anything; she just asked if I would be home. She understood that when you are in grief, you don't want to make decisions. You brain is fatigued. (attributed to Hugh Hollowell, Jr.)
Another idea: Give some gift cards to restaurants.